Data supplying method and device thereof

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency of providing updated data over a transmission medium. Each data has associated information indicating the presence or absence of validity data. An absence of validity data indicates that the data does not need to be updated. The presence of validity data allows only that data which needs updating to be transferred on the transmission medium, thereby improving its performance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for providing data from a dataproviding side to a data receiving side via a data transmission means,and device thereof.

Data provided from data providers to data receivers via datatransmission means such as, for example, communications satellites,telephone lines and optical fiber cables etc. can be roughly dividedinto two groups. On the one hand, there is data where it is advantageousboth for the data provider and the data receiver for the data to have along or limitless period of validity so that the data can be used for along period of time. On the other hand, there is data where it isadvantageous for both the data provider and the data receiver of thedata for the data to have a short valid period so that the data is onlyused for a short period of time.

Data having a long or limitless period of validity is data such asproduct summaries occurring in the communications business, while datahaving a short period of validity is data such as data listing productprices. Data having a valid period is no longer valid once the validperiod is over and after the valid period is over data having an updatedvalid period therefore has to be sent from the data provider to the datareceiver via a data transmission means.

However, when data configured so that short period valid data isincluded as a part of data having a long or indefinite period ofvalidity is provided using related data-providing methods, all of thedata for the short period valid data including the long period validdata had to be updated every time the period for the short valid perioddata expired. This is troublesome with regards to the providing of thedata and transmission efficiency is lowered.

As the present invention sets out to resolve the above problems, it istherefore the object of the present invention to provide a dataproviding method and device thereof capable of providing data easily ata high transmission efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A data providing method for providing data according to the presentinvention therefore comprises the steps of producing and providing firstdata (e.g. data DTb) having a region including information relating to avalid period of data, receiving the first data, categorizing the firstdata in accordance with the information relating to the valid period andthen storing the first data after being categorized, providing seconddata (e.g. data DTbb) of the same format as the first data, receivingthe second data, recognizing the second data with respect to informationrelating to the valid period and replacing the first data with thesecond data in accordance with results of the recognition.

The information relating to the valid period of data can include data ofthe valid period and data showing presence of the data of the validperiod.

Further, a data providing method for providing data is thereforeprovides so as to comprise the steps of combining data (e.g. data DTa)not including data showing a valid period of data and first data (e.g.data DTb) including data showing a valid period of data and thenproviding the data as being combined, receiving the data as beingcombined, categorizing the data not including data showing the validperiod of data and the first data in accordance with informationrelating to the valid period of data and then storing the data afterbeing categorized, providing second data (e.g. data DTbb) of the sameformat as the first data, recognizing the second data with respect toinformation relating to data showing a valid period of the second dataand replacing the first data with the second data in accordance withresults of the recognition.

The first data can be replaced with the second data when the second datais determined to be updated data for the first data from the recognitionresults.

Further, according to the present invention, a data providing devicecomprises a data provider and a data receiver. The data providercomprises a data producing section for producing first data (e.g. dataDTb) having a region including information relating to a valid period ofdata. The data receiver comprises a storage section for categorizing thefirst data in accordance with the information relating to the validperiod, storing the first data being categorized second data (e.g. dataDTbb) of the same format as the first data provided by the data providerwith respect to information relating to a valid period of the seconddata and replacing the first data with the second data in accordancewith results of the recognition. Here, the data provider provides datatherefrom to the data receive via the data transfer means.

The data producing section can provide data of the valid period and datashowing presence of the data of the valid period as information relatingto the valid period of the data.

Moreover, the storage section can comprise a categorizing section, astorage section, a recognizing section and a replacing section. Thecategorizing section is for categorizing the first data in accordancewith the information relating to the valid period. The storage sectionis for storing the first data being categorized. The recognizing sectionis for recognizing the second data of the same format as the first dataprovided from the data provider with respect to information relating toa valid period of the second data and the replacing section is forreplacing the first data with the second data in accordance with resultsfrom the recognizing section and storing the second data in the storingsection.

The replacing section can replace the first data with the second datawhen the recognizing section recognizes the second data as being updateddata for the first data.

Further, according to the present invention, a data receiving device forreceiving data having an area for information relating to a valid periodfrom a data providing device via a data transfer means, comprises a datacategorizing means, a data storing means, a data recognition means and adata replacing means. The data categorizing means is for categorizingfirst data in accordance with information relating to the valid period.The data storing means is for storing the first data being categorized.The data recognition means is for recognizing second data of the sameformat as the first data with respect to information of a valid periodof the second data and the data replacing means is for replacing thefirst data stored in the data storing means with the second data inaccordance with results from the data recognition means.

Further, according to the present invention, a data receiving device forreceiving data having an area for information relating to a valid periodfrom a data providing device via a data transfer means, comprises a datacategorizing section, a data storage section and a data recognizingsection. The data categorizing section is for categorizing data inaccordance with information relating to the valid period. The datastorage section is for storing the categorized data. The datarecognizing section is for recognizing the categorized data with respectto information relating to the valid period. Here, the data categorizingsection categorizes data when the data is provided from the dataproviding device as a combination of data A (e.g. data DTa) and data B(e.g. data DTb). The data A includes data for which the informationrelating to the valid period is given as showing that the valid periodis limitless. The data B includes data for which the information isgiven as showing that the valid period is short. The categorizingsection then transmits the data A to the data storage section and thedata B to the data recognizing section on the basis of the information.The data recognizing section recognizes whether or not data to beupdated by being replaced with the data B is already stored in thestorage section, and the data storage section stores the data B so thatthe data B is made to correspond to the data A when the data recognizingsection recognizes that no data is stored at the storage section.

Moreover, the data receiving device can further comprise a datareplacing section for replacing data stored in the storage section andwhen data is provided from the data providing device as data C (e.g.data DTbb) that includes data for which the information relating to thevalid period is given as showing that the valid period is short, thedata categorizing section categorizes the data C to be transmitted tothe recognizing section on the basis of the information, the recognizingsection recognizes whether or not the data C is update data for the dataB already stored in the data storage section and the data replacingsection replaces the data B with the data C so that the data C is storedin the data storage section when the data C is recognized as beingupdate data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a data providingdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a data format used by the dataproviding device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed example of the essentialparts of the data providing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is the first part of a flowchart illustrating an example of theoperation of the data providing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is the second part of the flowchart illustrating the example ofthe operation of the data providing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of data having limitless validperiod with the data format shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a first data having short validperiod with the format shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a second data having short validperiod with the format shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

First Embodiment

The following is a detailed description, with reference to the drawings,of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment described in the following, the details of a preferredexample of this invention is described, with various preferredtechnological limitations being enforced as a result. However, the scopeof the present invention is by no means limited by the following and isparticularly by no means limited with respect to the limitations placedin the following.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a data providingdevice of the present invention.

This data providing device 1 is configured in such a manner that a dataproviding means 10 on a data providing side and a data receiving means20 on a data receiving side are connected via a data path 30constituting a data transmission means.

The data providing means 10 provides data DT made at a data producer 11from a data provider 12 via the data path 30.

The data receiving means 20 stores the data DT received at a datareceiver 21 at a data storage section 22 via the data path 30. The dataDT stored at the data storage section 22 is then played back at a dataplayback section 23 in accordance with a data playback instruction SPfrom a data playback instruction section 24 that came via a userinterface 25.

The services provided by the data providing device 1 are not specifiedhere but can be, for example, data services using communicationssatellites, data services using the Internet or data services usingphysical media such as compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs). Datatransmission means such as, for example, communications satellites,telephone lines, optical fiber cables or the postage system cantherefore be used as the data path 30. The data providing means 10 caninclude broadcasting stations, data service providers, publishers andpost offices. A tuner or decoder can then be provided at the datareceiving means 20 when, for example, a broadcast satellite, telephoneline, or optical fiber cable etc. is used as the data path 30.

The format of the data DT provided by the data providing device 1 is asshown, for example, in FIG. 2. Here, D is the data provided to the userand is referred to as the core data, A differs depending on the serviceprovided but is basically a header containing the type and number etc.of the core data D, B is a bit showing whether or not the core data Dpossessed by the header A has a valid period and C is a bit showing thevalid period when a validity bit is shown to exist at the bit B and isset with the year, month, day, hour, minutes and seconds etc. for theusefulness.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the details of the data storagesection 22.

The data storage section 22 categorizes data DT inputted to a datacategorizer 222 from the data receiver 21 via a data input section 221into data DTa having a long or limitless valid period and data DTbhaving a short valid period using the header A and bit B. Thecategorized data DTa is stored at a data storage section 223 and thecategorized data DTb is outputted to an information recognizer 224. Thedata DTb inputted to the information recognizer 224 is recognized withrespect to necessity of data replacement using the bit C. The data DTb1recognized as having no necessity of being replaced is stored in thedata storage section 223 and the data DTb2 recognized as havingnecessity of being replaced is outputted to a data replacer 225 to bereplaced with replacement data DTb1 stored in the data storage section223. Data DT stored in the data storage section 223 and instructed to beread out is read out in accordance with the data read instruction SRinputted at a data reader 226 from the data playback section 23 and isoutputted to the data playback section 23 via a data output section 227.

An example of the operation of this kind of configuration will now bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a flowchart ofan example operation viewed from the side of the data provider and FIG.5 is a flowchart of an example operation viewed from the side of thedata receiver.

First, at the data producer 11 in the data providing means 10, a datagroup DT configured from a combination of, for example, data DTa of alimitless valid period (for example, FIG. 6) and data DTb of a shortvalid period (for example, FIG. 7) is produced (step STP1) and outputtedto the data provider 12.

At the data provider 12, the data group DT inputted from the dataproducer 11 is provided to the data receiver 21 in the data receivingmeans 20 via the data path 30 (step STP2).

At the data receiver 21, the data group DT provided via the data path 30is received (step STP3) and outputted to the data categorizer 222 viathe data input section 221 comprising the data storage section 22 inFIG. 3.

At the data categorizer 222, the data DTa with the limitless validperiod and the data DTb with the short valid period, which constitutethe data group DT inputted from the data input section 221, arecategorized by identifying the respective core data Da and Db for thedata DTa and DTb with respect to the type and number etc. by using theheaders Aa and Ab thereof (step STP4). The core data Da and Db arefurther identified with respect to whether or not they have a validperiod by using the bits Ba and Bb, in accordance with which the dataDTa and DTb are further categorized (step STP5).

Since the core data Da for the data DTa in this example is given ashaving no valid period, the data DTa is then stored in the data storagesection 223 (step STP8). On the other hand, the core data Db for thedata DTb is given as having a valid period, then the data DTb isoutputted to the information recognizer 224.

At the information recognizer 224, the presence of corresponding data isrecognized for the data stored within the data storage section 223 byusing the header Ab and the bit Cb of the data DTb inputted from thedata categorizer 222 (step STP6). Here, corresponding data is referredto as being previously supplied data stored in the data storage section223 for which the valid period has expired, with the type and numberetc. of the core data being the same as data DTb supplied this time. Inthis example no corresponding data is previously stored and theas-inputted data DTb is therefore stored at the data storage section 223(step STP8).

Next, the presence of other supplied data is recognized (step STP9).When, for example, the valid period of the data DTb has expired so thatthis core data Db has become invalid, updated data DTbb (for example,shown in FIG. 8) for the short valid period data DTb is produced exceptthe data DTa of a limitless valid period at the data producer 11 in thedata providing means 10 in FIG. 1 (step STP1) and outputted to the dataprovider 12.

At the data provider 12, data DTbb inputted from the data producer 11 isprovided to the data receiver 21 via the data path 30 (step STP2).

At the data receiver 21, the data DTbb supplied via the data path 30 isreceived (step STP3) and then the data DTbb is outputted to the datacategorizer 222 via the data input section 221 comprising the datastorage section 22.

At the data categorizer 222, the type and number etc. of the core dataDbb for the data DTbb is identified using a header Abb of the data DTbbinputted from the data input section 221 and the data DTbb iscategorized (step STP4). The core data Dbb is further identified withrespect to whether or not the core data Dbb has a valid period by usingthe bit Bbb, in accordance with which the data DTbb is furthercategorized (step STP5).

In this example, the core data Dbb of the data DTbb has a valid period,so that the data DTbb is then outputted to the information recognizer224. At the information recognizer 224, the presence of correspondingdata is recognized about the data stored within the data storage section223 using the header Abb and the bit Bbb of the data DTbb inputted fromthe data categorizer 222 (step STP6). In this example, correspondingdata DTb is stored within the data storage section 223 and the data DTbbis outputted to the data replacer 225. Then, at the data replacer 225,the data DTb stored at the data storage section 223 is replaced with thedata DTbb (step STP7).

As described above, it is sufficient to just provide updated short validperiod data as data provided after the valid period of short validperiod data has expired even for data configured in such a manner thatshort valid period data is included as a part within limitless validperiod data. It is therefore no longer necessary to provide dataincluding unlimited valid period data in the way that was necessary inthe related art and the transmission efficiency can therefore be raised.

When the data receiver wishes to play back the data DTa of a limitlessvalid period, the data receiver inputs SPa as a data playbackinstruction SP from the data playback instruction section 24 via theuser interface 25.

The data playback section 23 then recognizes presence of a playbackrequest for the data DTa from the data playback instruction section 24(step STP11 in FIG. 5) and when the playback request for the data DTa ispresented, a read out instruction SR is outputted as SRa to the datareader 226 for this data DTa.

The data reader 226 then recognizes the core data Da for the data DTastored at the data storage section 223 with respect to whether or notthe core data Da has a valid period by using the bit B for the data DTa(step STP12). Then, because the core data Da of the data DTa in thisexample has no valid period, the core data Da for the data DTa stored inthe data storage section 223 is read-out and outputted to the dataplayback section 23 via the data output section 227. The core data Dafor the data DTa inputted from the data output section 227 is thenplayed-back via the data output section 227 (step STP14).

Next, when the data receiver wishes to play back the short valid perioddata DTbb, the data receiver inputs SPbb as a data playback instructionSP from the data playback instruction section 24 is inputted via theuser interface 25.

The presence of a playback request for the data DTbb from the dataplayback instruction section 24 is then recognized at the data playbacksection 23 (step STP11). When the playback request for the data DTbb ispresented, a read out instruction SR for reading out this data DTbb isoutputted as SRbb to the data reader 226 in FIG. 3.

The data reader 226 then recognizes the core data Dbb of the data DTbbstored at the data storage section 223 with respect to whether or notthe core data Dbb has a valid period by using the bit Bbb of the dataDTb (step STP12). Then, because the core data Dbb of the data DTbb ofthis example has a valid period, a recognition is made as to whether ornot the valid period of the core data Dbb for the data DTbb has expiredby using the bit Cbb of the data DTbb (step STP13). Then, because thevalid period of the core data Dbb for the data DTb has not expired inthis example, the core data Dbb for the data DTbb stored in the datastorage section 223 is read out and outputted to the data playbacksection 23 via the data output section 227.

The core data Dbb for the data DTbb inputted from the data outputsection 227 is played back at the data playback section 23 (step STP14).

The operation for when the data receiver makes a request to playbackshort valid period data when the updated short valid period data DTbbhas not been used for replacing regardless of whether the valid periodof the short valid period data has expired so that the core data Db forthe data DTb is invalid is carried out in step STP13 onwards. Namely,whether or not the valid period of the core data Db for the data DTb hasexpired is recognized using the bit Cb for the data DTb (step STP13).Then, because the valid period of the core data Db for the data DTb hasexpired in this case, an error signal SE of a message of, for example,"playback is not possible because the valid period of the core data Dbfor the data DTb has expired" is outputted at the data playbackinstruction section 24 via the data output section 227 and the dataplayback section 23 (step STP15), with the data receiver being informedof this via the user interface 25. It is also possible at the datareader 226 at this time to erase the data DTb for which the valid periodhas expired from the data storage section 223. This prevents data forwhich the valid period has expired from being mistakenly played back.

Then, the presence of a request for playing back of the data DT from thedata playback instruction section 24 is recognized at the data playbacksection 23 in FIG. 1 (step STP16). When a playback request for the dataDT is presented, the flow is returned to step STP12 and theaforementioned operation is repeated.

The data providing side operation described using FIG. 4 and the datareceiving side operation described using FIG. 5 are executedindependently, i.e. the reading and playing back of other data ispossible even while data is being transmitted and stored.

In the aforementioned embodiment, data stored at the data storagesection 223 is stored in accordance with the data type, number or validperiod, or stored in the sequence received and then arranged during theplaying back of the data in accordance with the data type, number orvalid period.

According to the present invention, transmission efficiency can bedramatically improved by only providing updated short valid period dataafter the valid period of short valid period data has expired even forthe providing of data configured in such a manner that short validperiod data is included as a part of data of a long or limitless validperiod.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data providing method for providing datacomprising the steps of:producing and providing first data, said firstdata having a given format and a region including information relatingto a valid period of data, wherein said information relating to saidvalid period of data includes data of said valid period and data showingpresence of said data of said valid period; receiving said first data;categorizing said first data in accordance with said informationrelating to said valid period and then storing said first data afterbeing categorized; providing second data having said given format;receiving said second data; recognizing said second data with respect toinformation relating to said valid period; and replacing said first datawith said second data in accordance with results of said recognition. 2.A data providing device comprising:a data provider including a dataproducing section configured to produce first data, said first datahaving a given format and a region including information relating to avalid period of data, wherein said data producing section is configuredto provide data of said period and data showing presence of said data ofsaid valid period as information relating to said period of said data;and a data receiver including a storage section configured to categorizesaid first data in accordance with said information relating to saidvalid period, to store said first data after being categorized, torecognize second data having said given format provided by said dataprovider with respect to information relating to a valid period of saidsecond data, and to replace said first data with said second data inaccordance with results of said recognition, said data providerproviding said data therefrom to said data receiver via data transfermeans.
 3. A data receiving device for receiving data having an area forinformation relating to a valid period from a data providing device viaa data transfer means, comprising:a data categorizing section configuredto categorize data in accordance with information relating to a validperiod; a data storage section configured to store said categorizeddata; and a data recognizing section configured to recognize saidcategorized data with respect to information relating to said validperiod, wherein said data categorizing section is configured tocategorize data when said data is provided from said data providingdevice as a combination of data A including data for which saidinformation relating to said valid period is given as showing that saidvalid period is limitless and data B including data for which saidinformation is given as showing that said valid period is short, and totransmit said data A to said data storage section and said data B tosaid data recognizing section based on said information, wherein saiddata recognizing section is configured to recognize whether or not datato be updated by being replaced with said data B is already stored insaid data storage section, and wherein said data storage section isconfigured to store said data B so that said data B is made tocorrespond to said data A when said data recognizing section recognizesthat no data is stored in said data storage section.
 4. A data receivingdevice according to claim 3, wherein said data receiving device furthercomprises:a data replacing section configured to replace data stored insaid data storage section, wherein when data is provided from said dataproviding device as data C that includes data for which said informationrelating to said valid period is given as showing that said valid periodis short, said data categorizing section is configured to categorizesaid data C to be transmitted to said recognizing section based on saidinformation, wherein said recognizing section is configured to recognizewhether or not said data C is update data for said data B already storedin said data storage section, and wherein said data replacing section isconfigured to replace said data B with said data C so that said data Cis stored in said data storage section when said data C is recognized asbeing updated data.
 5. A data providing method for providing datacomprising the steps of:producing and providing data including data Ahaving information indicating a limitless valid period and data B havinginformation indicating a short valid period; receiving said data;categorizing said data in accordance with said information and thenstoring said data after being categorized; providing data C havinginformation indicating said short valid period; receiving said data C;recognizing said data C with respect to said information; and replacingsaid data B with said data C in accordance with results of saidrecognition.
 6. A providing method according to claim 5, wherein saidinformation includes data of a valid period and data showing presence ofsaid data of said valid period.
 7. A data providing method for providingdata comprising the steps of:combining data A having informationindicating a limitless valid period and data B having informationindicating a short valid period and then providing said data as beingcombined; receiving said data as being combined; categorizing said dataA and said data B in accordance with said information and then storingsaid data after being categorized; providing data C having informationindicating said short valid period; recognizing said data C with respectsaid information; and replacing said data B with said data C inaccordance with results of said recognition.
 8. A data providing methodaccording to claim 7, wherein said data B is replaced with said data Cwhen said data C is determined to be updated data for said data B fromsaid recognition results.
 9. A data providing device comprising:a dataprovider including a data producing section configured to produce data,said data including data A having information indicating a limitlessvalid period and data B having information indicating a short validperiod; and a data receiver including a storage section configured tocategorize said data in accordance with said information, to store saiddata after being categorized, to recognize data C having informationindicating said short valid period provided by said data provider, andto replace said data B with said data C in accordance with results ofsaid recognition, said data provider providing said data therefrom tosaid data receiver via data transfer means.
 10. A data providing deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein said data producing section is configuredto provide said information including data of a valid period and datashowing presence of said data of said valid period.
 11. A data providingdevice according to claim 9, wherein said storage section comprises:acategorizing section configured to categorize said data B in accordancewith said information; a storing section configured to store said data Bafter being categorized; a recognizing section configured to recognizesaid data C as said data B provided from said data provider with respectto said information; and a replacing section configured to replace saiddata B with said data C in accordance with results from said recognizingsection and to store said data C in said storing section.
 12. A dataproviding device according to claim 11, wherein said replacing sectionis configured to replace said data B with said data C when saidrecognizing section recognizes said data C as being updated data forsaid data B.
 13. A data receiving device for receiving data having anarea for information relating to a valid period from a data providingdevice via a data transfer means, comprising:a data categorizerconfigured to categorize data in accordance with information indicatinga valid period, said data including data A having information indicatinga limitless valid period and data B having information indicating ashort valid period; a data storer configured to store said data beingcategorized; a data recognizer configured to recognize data C havinginformation indicating said short valid period; and a data replacerconfigured to replace said data B with said data C in accordance withresults from said data recognizer.